Just off the Carnival Magic. Quick review.

[Uncwrn93]

Got back today from a wonderful week on the Magic.

 

Embarkation - we had FTTF and I am really thankful. We arrived at the terminal for our 1030 check in time and the lines were long to enter the building. They have the staggered boarding times now in Galveston and I don't know if people were in line that shouldn't but it was long. We thankfully walked right in and checked in and was able to board and get to our room by 1130am.

 

Room - we were in Balcony room 9274 Starboard side. Room was nice and always clean. Our room steward was always able to slip in twice a day and straighten up. One of the smoking areas on the ship is on deck 11 Starboard but no problem with that but our neighbors smoked on their balcony which drove me nuts. Our room was right outside the Main elevators. Not a lot of noise due to the elevators but the atrium went up from 3 to 12 like a long tube outside our room and some nights the music from the atrium was very loud until 1230. Never heard noise from the Lido deck.

 

Food -

We ate at the Steak House one night, MDR (YTD) 5 other nights and room service one night. Steak house was amazing. Worth every penny. Service was excellent, food perfectly cooked. I strongly suggest everyone try the steakhouse.

 

MDR - We had anytime dining. There were 3 of us and we either had a table for 4 by the window or tables pushed together in the room We were in the Northern Lights 3rd floor dining room. Service was always good, some nights better but never a problem. Food was very good every night. My husband had the flank steak 3 of the 5 nights and really enjoyed it. My daughter and I tried something new and different off the menu each night and really enjoyed everything. Bread was always on the table and the wait staff kept our water glasses full at all times. We never had to fill up our water glasses. We all had desert each night something different and all were very good. Creme Brulle, on first formal night, pie two nights, chocolate melting cake (to die for), my daughter had a key lime pie moose that was very good.

 

Room service was our only disappointment - food was not hot (not cold but not hot) when it arrived, we had BLT which the bread was not crisp, the fries were eh.

 

Pizza - we ate at least once a day from the Lido and other than they were always behind in orders it was yummy.

 

Tandoor - was very yummy. If you didn't go to the back of the Lido deck you never would have found it.

 

Fresh made omelettes most mornings were our go to for breakfast on sea days.

 

Buffet - tons of choices most that we tried were good.

 

Red Frog Pub food - 3.33 per order was very yummy and we had no problem paying for it the couple times we ordered as a snack. Try the shrimp and grouper. Yummy.

 

Never made it to the Italian restaurant sadly.

 

Overall if you can't find something to eat that you will enjoy I really believe it's because you don't try hard or aren't willing to try something different.

 

Sea Days Let's just say that both the first day and last day in the Gulf of Mexico left something to be desired weather wise. Cool and windy and cloudy on the way out of Galveston, and on the last day the wind was so strong they had many of the decks closed due to the wind. Not Carnivals fault and trust me there were tons of things to do on the ship to keep you amused. Saw tons of people doing trivia no matter the time of day. The football games were shown on the last sea day so the bars were full.

 

on the last sea day we were enjoying the sun on the Lido deck when we hit a quick squall and wind that caused the ship to lean to the port side (you really couldn't tell sitting there except when you watched the water in the pool pour out and flood the Lido deck. The crew was quick to get out there to clean up but it was interesting to watch.

 

Cozumel Weather was eh, windy, cloudy but warm. (notice a theme of windy). We did the Cozumel Bar Hop. Had an amazing time and meet some fun people. There were 13 of us on the Hop and 3 were named Becky and three of us were nurses (two of them Becky's). Fun great group, visiting the other side of the island with yummy food, great drinks and beautiful views. Highly recommend this tour to anyone even if you don't drink. It was pouring when we got back into town and waiting to get back on the ship was wet and cold.

 

Oh yeah there were 6 ships in port on the 5th and somehow we ended up docking at not the normal Carnival dock which benefited us since we were right in town.

 

Belize 3 ships anchored off the country. Day started out windy, cloudy and chilly. No problems getting on the tenders but it was quite chilly out there and I was afraid we were going to be cold all day. We booked the Altun Ha and River Wallace tour and by the time we arrived at Altun Ha the sun was shinning and it was gorgeous. Another tour I highly recommend. AMazing seeing the ruins and going down the river we saw Crocodiles, Hollar monkeys, iguanas, and Manatees. The spotter (don't know what else to call him) was able to see things in the trees while we were moving. Learned a lot about the country and the Mayans. When we got back to the port it was crazy busy with people waiting on tenders but the lines moved quickly.

 

Roatan Absolutely perfect weather of a day slightly breezy but sunny and warm. All the north wind had blown all the humidity out and made it perfect. We booked at Maya Key and really enjoyed the time there. Only complaint is we were only there from 915am - 130pm. Our ship was in port until 6pm and it would have been nice to stay longer but weren't given the choice.

 

Spa both my daughter and I had massages and really enjoyed them. We got a deal on the next to last day that included a facial and foot massage.

 

Gym My daughter used the gym almost every day. Other than the first day not crazy busy. Disappointing if you want to use the sauna or steam room you have to pay for the full week of the spa. Not worth it for us.

 

Dive in Movies My husband and i watched movies 3 different nights and really enjoyed ourselves. The popcorn was fresh but no butter :*( We didn't have a problem finding a place to sit as long as you got there early.

 

Lounge chairs Didn't see tons of problems with people holding chairs they never used. We found chairs on Lido, and 12 and then found that laying in the sun on 5 was perfect, no people tons of chairs so you weren't sitting on top of each other and a slight breeze without the stronger wind the higher you went.

 

Hot tubs Biggest frustration was they were filled with kids almost everywhere. Deck 5 wasn't bad with kids but Lido was horrible no way could you enjoy the hot tubs with all the kids. I don't mind kids at all but the ones on 10 seemed to be without a ton of parent attention and no regard for others.

 

Behind the scenes tour My husband booked this at my insistence and really enjoyed it. You have to book it the first day on ship because it sells out and they only take about 18 people. The tour is the last sea day in the morning. (same time we encountered the squall) but the Captain still spent time with the group. They saw crew quarters, galley, storage for the food, the control room for the engines and so much more. So worth the money and the time if you are interested in what makes a cruise ship work.

 

I don't think I forgot anything. The sunsets all week were amazing. We didn't make any of the shows (we're early risers so tend to fall asleep earlier) Had all good intents to make a show but just never happened. Spent a little time in the casino again the smokers there are in full force. Only place outside the casino we smelt cigarette smoke was just on 5 right by the entry ways. I will applaud if they ever ban smoking all together. But understand why they don't.

 

We really had an amazing trip and will do it again, sadly not on the Magic as it moves to FL in April. It was fun talking to many of the staff and hearing their stories.

 

Ask any questions or if we met you just say hi.

[Gtownmom]

Enjoyed your review. We go a week from today. Have been on the Magic before, and will miss her when she leaves... but then we get the Breeze! Our first time trying the American Table menu... looking forward to it! LOVE the steakhouse too! Thanks for the review!

[Uncwrn93]

We enjoyed the American Table choices. I know it's received a lot of criticism but we all found choices that we really enjoyed and left happy and full each night

[Sooner-Cruisers]

Thank you, great review.

[utopiagal]

I was on this cruise as well. Your review is spot on. We had a great time. Weather was a little cool. We were amazed at how many kids were on this cruise. Little ones, school aged and tons of college kids. We like the Red Frog Pub but didn't like the fact that it was a pre-teen hangout on this cruise. These kids had no adult supervision and didn't know how to act in a public place. Other than that we loved every minute. The Magic is beautiful.

[Uncwrn93]

I was on this cruise as well. Your review is spot on. We had a great time. Weather was a little cool. We were amazed at how many kids were on this cruise. Little ones, school aged and tons of college kids. We like the Red Frog Pub but didn't like the fact that it was a pre-teen hangout on this cruise. These kids had no adult supervision and didn't know how to act in a public place. Other than that we loved every minute. The Magic is beautiful.

 

While i wasn't surprised about the number of college kids (ours was one of them) the school age ones did surprise me. I didn't notice any of the pre-teen crowd in the Red Frog Pub they must have been down by the games. We sat at the bar when we were there.